Bookworm Chen Changsheng, 280,000 Books

After reciting it ten times over, Nascent Soul Immortal said smugly.

"Only the disciple of Nascent Soul Immortal could write a couplet with such Dao resonance."

"Look at those characters—iron strokes, silver hooks, magnificent and extraordinary. How could an ordinary person write such calligraphy?"

"Huihai the Bald Donkey and that bastard Zhao Dezhu, just because they took in good disciples, swagger around all day long."

"Once Chang Sheng reaches Foundation Establishment, I'll make sure to knock the wind out of their sails."

With that, Nascent Soul Immortal clasped his hands behind his back and walked away in high spirits.

A while later, a blurry figure suddenly appeared at the entrance of the previously empty main hall.

"After a thousand years of cultivation, he still doesn't see as clearly as even one of his disciple's disciples. Interesting."

Before the words had even faded, the blurry figure vanished once more.

Several streaks of light flashed through the sky.

The mortals on the ground watched with boundless longing, for those streams of light represented the omnipotent immortals of this world.

Yet they did not know that among those streaks of light was an immortal who was remarkably "unambitious."

"Senior Brother, thicken your Spiritual Power a little more."

"The wind is too strong. I can't focus on reading."

A phantom Flying Sword sped through the air, with Supreme Clarity Temple's Senior Disciple Qingfeng standing at its tip, his hands clasped behind his back.

Yet behind him sat a young man cross-legged, repeatedly pressing down the pages of his book against the fierce wind of flight.

Faced with his junior brother's "lax" attitude, Qingfeng waved his right hand, thickening the protective Spiritual Power around them by several degrees.

With that, the fluttering pages finally settled down.

"Chang Sheng, you hold a book in your hands all day. What exactly are you reading?"

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng smiled faintly. "I like reading any book, so long as it is a book."

"Not only do I enjoy reading books, I enjoy observing every single thing in this world even more."

"But the world is too vast. Even if I spent a thousand or ten thousand years, I might not be able to see everything one by one."

"So I chose to read books first, and then see the world."

"Because books are written by people. The reason people write books is because they wish to turn all they have seen, heard, felt, and understood into words, leaving them behind."

"Finishing a book is equivalent to understanding a person's entire life."

"Though one cannot see the whole picture, one can still glimpse a thing or two."

Chen Changsheng's explanation piqued Qingfeng's interest.

"Then after reading so many books, have they helped you?"

"Of course. If I hadn't read books, how could I have unraveled Master's Core Array?"

The moment those words came out, not only did Chen Changsheng's senior brothers become interested, even Nascent Soul Immortal, who was leading the way ahead, pricked up his ears.

Chen Changsheng had used Lightning Strike Wood to make a coffin, which had indeed pained Nascent Soul Immortal somewhat. But what he could not understand even more was this:

How could an array laid down by a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator be broken by a disciple at Qi Refining Level 9?

"You mean there was an array Master laid down among the Ancient Texts in the Scripture Pavilion?"

"Senior Brother, you jest. Master is not skilled in the Dao of arrays, so how could the Scripture Pavilion possibly contain an array he laid down?"

Nascent Soul Immortal: "..."

Those words were a little hurtful!

I'm your master, a mighty Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. What right does a mere Qi Refining Level 9 disciple have to criticize me?

"Since the Scripture Pavilion does not contain Master's array, how did you break it?"

"Even if Master is not skilled in arrays, an array laid down by a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator is not something someone at Qi Refining Level 9 can comprehend!"

"Senior Brother is right. Under normal circumstances, I naturally would not have been able to comprehend Master's array."

"But Senior Brother has overlooked one principle: everything under heaven leaves traces that can be followed."

"Master is the Temple Master of Supreme Clarity Temple. The foundation of his cultivation was naturally inherited from Supreme Clarity Temple."

"Of the books on arrays in Supreme Clarity Temple's Scripture Pavilion, I have read eight or nine out of every ten."

"And what Master dabbles in is the Five Elements Array Lineage."

"While reading the books of the Five Elements Array Lineage, I also found notes and insights Master had left behind in those years."

"Therefore, I came to understand some of Master's habits when laying arrays."

Hearing this, Qingfeng immediately turned to Second Senior Brother. "Ming Yue, you oversee the Scripture Pavilion. Does our Supreme Clarity Temple have a Five Elements Array Lineage?"

Ming Yue thought for a moment, then said doubtfully, "Though I am not as widely read and knowledgeable as Junior Brother, I do know a little about the Scripture Pavilion's general classifications."

"I've never heard of a Five Elements Array Lineage!"

Chen Changsheng smiled at that. "Of course Second Senior Brother does not know."

"Second Senior Brother began guarding the Scripture Pavilion thirty years ago, but the Five Elements Array was removed from the Scripture Pavilion fifty years ago."

"The Five Elements Array school was once all the rage in the Cultivation World a hundred years ago, but it was gradually replaced by other schools of arrays."

Ming Yue immediately looked at Chen Changsheng with a speechless expression.

"Junior Brother, don't tell me you went to the Book Grave."

"Hehehe!"

"Second Senior Brother truly has eyes like torches. I did indeed go to the Book Grave."

At that, Ming Yue immediately felt his head begin to swell.

Nothing in this world remained unchanged, and the cultivation methods and all manner of knowledge in the Cultivation World were no exception.

From cultivation methods for Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, down to the foundational knowledge of array entry and cultivation entry.

Everything changed, and there were always geniuses in the Cultivation World who cast off the old and brought forth the new.

Thus, the Scripture Pavilion underwent a clearing every fifty years, its purpose being to replace outdated cultivation methods and Ancient Texts.

The books that were replaced would be sent to a designated storage place, a place Supreme Clarity Temple's disciples called the "Book Grave."

Supreme Clarity Temple had existed for a thousand years, and no one knew exactly how many books were stored in the Book Grave.

Nor did anyone know what types of books it contained.

Ming Yue had gone there a few times when he had first entered the sect, and had even discovered the mortal folk tale The Plum in the Golden Vase within.

After confirming that most of the books inside were useless, Ming Yue had never gone back.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Ming Yue asked tentatively, "Junior Brother, don't tell me you've read every book in the Book Grave?"

"Senior Brother Ming Yue, don't joke. I have only been in the sect for ten years—how could I possibly have finished them all?"

"Phew~"

"But I have already read three-tenths of them."

Ming Yue: ???

"Three-tenths?!"

"Three-tenths of the books in the Book Grave must amount to some four hundred thousand books, right?"

"Not that many. There are 983,521 books in the Book Grave altogether."

"Over the years, I have read 286,385 books in total. That barely counts as three-tenths."

After hearing that, Ming Yue fell silent. The other disciples fell silent as well. Even Nascent Soul Immortal, a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, did not escape.